A SINGING pensioner has wowed judges on TV talent show X-Factor.

William Hooper, aged 82, of Imperial Court, Clacton, impressed the show’s celebrity judges with his Sinatra renditions.

He recently sang the Frank Sinatra songs You Make Me Feel So Young and Come Fly With Me in front of an audience of thousands at a final round of auditions held at the Excel Centre in London.

He got the thumbs-up from three of the show’s four celebrity judges.

Star band manager Louis Walsh and celebrity singers Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue voted to put Mr Hooper through to the next stage of the competition, though Simon Cowell did not lend his support.

Mr Hooper has now won a place on the show’s boot camp, where singers will battle it out to be final contestants.

Monica Partridge, a neighbour at Imperial Court, said: “We are all over the moon for him.

“He has got through four rounds of auditions. He was in London at the Excel centre, singing in front of 2,500 people, and he is through to the next stage.

“He has always been a bit of an entertainer, and he has a nice, light baritone.”

She said members of Mr Hooper’s family had turned out to support him on Thursday.

Brijette Pearl, the manager of Imperial House, said: “He used to do a few little variety pieces.

“He is so funny, and such a lovely guy, he has got that likeability factor.

“He has got this far out of thousands and thousands.

“He said, ‘It is the first time I have had this much of an achievement.

“‘I am 82 years old, and I don’t care if it does not go any further, I have done what I wanted to do.’”

l The new X-Factor episodes featuring Mr Hooper are expected to be broadcast in August and September this year.